Carvel Corporation

In 1934Thomas Carvel, a salesman who sold ice cream at fairs and beach resorts, opened a retail ice cream shop in Hartsdale, New York. The following year, he perfected the product that would make his fortune: soft-serve ice cream, dispensed from a freezer of his own invention. Carvel was operating three stores when World War II started. After the war, he formed two companies: the Carvel Corporation and the Carvel Dari-Freeze Stores, which he immediately began to franchise. Within five years, he had generated 125 franchise stores from Maine to Florida. As part of the franchise package, he included plans for a drive-up Carvel stand with a forward-tilting facade under a roof that pitched upwards toward the street. It was a singularly visible and welcoming design. To help franchisees, he established the “Carvel College of Ice Cream Knowledge,” which was referred to as “Sundae School.”